Northampton School Officials Support Tax Revision Plan

The Northampton Area School Board went on record last week in support of legislation that would revise local taxation.

Voters will decide in May if they want to change the tax structure. If the ballot question is approved, the Legislature would vote on a constitutional amendment before the bill becomes law.

The tax plan could lower property taxes by up to 25 percent because counties, school districts and municipalities could raise revenue from new sources. Counties would have the option of enacting a sales tax of up to 0.5 percent. School districts could enact an income tax of up to 1.5 percent and municipalities could tax income up to 0.75 percent. At the same time, nuisance taxes such as personal property, occupation and per capita taxes would be eliminated.

Board President Robert Nyce said at a recent public meeting that the board supports the package to shift the tax structure.

"This is the best package ever laid out. I am afraid that if it fails, if we can't eliminate the nuisance taxes and the burden on real estate taxes, there will be no end to the burden on homeowners and senior citizens," Nyce said. "Although it is a shift in tax funding, the Northampton Area School Board supports local tax reform.

"One issue that seems to come up is that under the new program there will be increases in the interest from dividend income," he said. "That won't cost anything near property taxes. The personal property tax on the county level is a trade-off. Overall, there will be a savings to people on fixed income."

State Rep. Frank Yandrisevits, D-138th District, said his main concern about the bill is "the people who originally pushed for tax reform, the municipalities and school districts, should now be explaining how it will affect the people in their districts so voters can make an intelligent decision on May 16."

He said that if the bill is approved, "a lot of us will pay more" - but, "when I stop working, I will pay less. That is not the case we have now."

Superintendent Edwin Coyle said, "The tax reform incentive is an excellent one. It gives us the opportunity to eliminate some, if not all, (of the taxes) we are burdened with. It does shift the burden to those that have income and does give relief to those with limited, fixed or no income."